Brandin Cooks Traded to Houston Texans

Credit: John Hefti/AP Photo

The Houston Texans were involved in yet another offseason trade. This time, their trade partner was the Los Angeles Rams. The Texans will receiver wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a a future fourth-round pick in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick.

Brandin Cooks Trade History

Cooks came into the league as a first-round pick back in 2014, drafted by the New Orleans Saints. Cooks was then traded to the New England Patriots for a first-rounder, in 2017. In 2018, he was traded for yet another first-round pick, but this time to the Los Angeles Rams. Now, Cooks is dealt in a trade yet again, but this time for a second-round draft pick.

Cooks’ 2019 Regression

Cooks had been a 1,000-yard receiver for four straight seasons, until 2019. Last season, he finished with just 583 receiving yards, which was his lowest total since his rookie year.

A few different things went wrong to result in this. First, Cooks dealt with being less than 100% for much of the season. However, the greater impact to his stats were the overall regression of the Rams’ passing game.

The offensive line play for the Rams was terrible, and Jared Goff has proven to be even more terrible when pressure. Obviously, this is a bad combination, leading to the inconsistencies of the passing game. Cooks has also served as the team’s deep threat, and his routes often took too much time to develop, when the offensive line is letting guys through.

Cooks to the Texans

The Texans obviously have a hole at wide receiver, after trading away DeAndre Hopkins earlier this offseason. He is likely to be the top outside receiver, joining Will Fuller V and Randall Cobb in the starting lineup. Houston also has Kenny Stills and Keke Coutee to round out their wide receiver corps.

While these trades are more than questionable for the long term in Houston, it can easily be seen how they could improve the offense for this season. Clearly, Bill O’Brien is in win-now mode, likely coaching for his job. We will see if Brandin Cooks can bounce back to his previous form.

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